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Full Version: The NPC Problem
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prepare for a badly written rant
NPCs are one of the biggest annoyances in this mod. They seem to cause far more problems than good ones, and I can name a handful of things that have happened because NPCs got in the way.
  • I'm an LPI, escorting contraband to a secure facility, and I get told by an NPC to drop my cargo.
  • I'm allowed to carry a particular kind of contraband, but NPCs are idiots and tell me to drop it anyway.
  • I'm chasing a criminal through a system, and I get tradelane disrupted (while they didn't).
  • Tradelane disruptions from NPCs, in general, are god damn annoying.
  • I'm trying to use a jumpgate in a hurry, but NPCs are taking 10 years to go through it. On top of that, they sometimes get stuck, forcing me to shoot them and damage my reputation.
  • I'm trying to RP with a hostile faction, and I keep getting annoyed by snub fighters making a racket.
  • I'm trying to RP with a hostile faction, and a capital ship patrol spawns. Great.
  • I'm fighting someone near an NPC base, and I use my CD to prevent them from getting away. The explosion pisses off the NPCs and stations nearby, so I have to kill myself in order to dock again.

Seriously, NPCs are such a nuisance. Can we just throw them out the window?
You missed out that piracy is almost impossible in Gallia because NPCs shoot out the lanes and trigger the lane bug.
First three points are kinda ok...

If you cannot use JG due to NPC blocking it, just enter formation with it - SIMPLE
Enemy capitals spawn usually on heavily protected places where you as enemy simply shouldn't even exist
NPC fighters are okay, doing almost 0 damage.
Also CD explosions usually dmg NPC bases and turn them hostile in instant. Use different CD.
I don't see an issue with NPCs. The bugged JHs or JGs due to them are a little annoying but killing off 3 npcs doesn't harm your reputation for real anyways.
Cap patrols were reduced in amount, you really cannot expect them to be fully removed.

Idk what people's problem with them is, they fill this empty place with virtual life afterall. Today I met silent traders giving you cash without asking or npcs because we have just another conn only day.
don't forget the past npcs who was cd equiped and some faction with GB npcs in. now generally you can cruise and escape
Most of the problems you mentioned can be solved by removing certain NPC spawns following this principle:

-No NPC spawns near gates
-No NPCs spawn near bases that are hostile to them

That can be done by removing entries from the system files. It doesnt have to be done for every system immediately, one can start with the 5 most player-populated ones (take a couple of hours of work to do it?) and move on to the moderately populated ones (the mostly empty ones don't matter anyway.

It' not hard, it's not much work, it's not complicated, and it would have a big positive impact on overall gameplay.

But as long as it's not asked for by someone that devs actually care about, nothing will happen.
If you want no npcs near the gate you gotta remove close to all spawns. They travel.
They travel after they spawned near you. Even if it's still possible to have an NPC at a gate traveling there with you, removing the spawns near gates will still greatly reduce their number there. "It wont fix it 100% so lets notfix it 90% either" mentality isn't exactly what will help improve gameplay.
If you're next to a gate they will spawn in the lane and arrive.
So what are you trying to say? That it's impossible to affect NPC spawning at all?
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